Shloka 27

Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 13 — Kīcaka’s Proposition and Draupadī’s Dharmic Refusal

Devanagari script

उभौ परमसंद्ृष्टी मत्ताविव महागजौ | कृतप्रतिकृतैश्षित्रैर्बाहुभिश्व सुसड्कटै: । संनिपातावधूतैश्न प्रमाथोन्‍्मथनैस्तथाः,दोनोंमें भरपूर हर्ष और उत्साह भरा था। दोनों ही मतवाले गजराजोंकी भाँति एक-दूसरेसे भिड़े हुए थे। जब एक-दूसरेका कोई अंग जोरसे दबाता, तब दूसरा फौरन उसका प्रतीकार करता--उस अंगको उसकी पकड़से छुड़ा लेता था। दोनों एक-दूसरेके हाथोंको मुट्टीसे पकड़कर विवश कर देते और विचित्र ढंगसे परस्पर प्रहार करते थे। दोनों आपसमें गुँथ जाते और फिर धक्के देकर एक दूसरेको दूर हटा देते। कभी एक-दूसरेको पटककर जमीनपर रगड़ता, तो दूसरा नीचेसे ही कुलाँचकर ऊपरवालेको दूर फेंक देता या उसे लिये-दिये खड़ा हो अपने शरीरसे दबाकर उसके अंगोंको भी मथ डालता था

Transliteration

ubhau paramasaṃdṛṣṭī mattāv iva mahāgajau | kṛtapratikṛtaiś citrair bāhubhiś ca susaṅkaṭaiḥ || saṃnipātāvadhūtaiś ca pramāthonmathanais tathā ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Both combatants, keenly matched in strength and resolve, surged at one another like two intoxicated lordly elephants. With powerful, tightly locked arms they exchanged counter-grips and swift reversals—each immediately undoing the other’s hold. They seized and constrained one another’s hands, struck in unusual ways, grappled chest to chest, then shoved apart again. At times one would throw the other down and grind him against the ground; at times the one beneath would spring up, hurl the other away, or rise while bearing him, crushing and churning his limbs by sheer bodily force. The scene displays not mere rage but disciplined endurance and the will to answer force with force in a contest of equals.

Word by Word

उभौboth (two persons)

परम-संदृष्टिof supreme appearance/looking splendid

मत्तौintoxicated, rut-mad

इवlike, as if

महागजौtwo great elephants

कृत-प्रतिकृतैःwith acts and counter-acts (done and retaliated)

चित्रैःvaried, strange

बाहुभिःwith arms

चand

सुसंकटैःvery tight/close (hard to escape)

संनिपात-अवधूतैःwith (moves) shaken by collision/impact

चand

प्रमाथ-उन्मथनैःwith crushing and churning (violent wrestlings)

तथाthus, in that manner

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights disciplined endurance and parity in contest: strength is shown not only by striking but by composure, quick countering, and resilience. Ethically, it portrays controlled prowess—answering force with measured skill rather than uncontrolled cruelty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Two evenly matched fighters grapple intensely like rutting elephants—locking arms, reversing holds, throwing, pushing apart, and crushing in close combat—each immediately countering the other’s maneuvers.